Kansas Court Records
How Kansas's courts are organized, where their records are kept and how to search them.
Kansas has a unified court system with one kind of trial court, the district court, in each of its 105 counties. Nearly all district courts now use a single statewide case management system, so their records can be searched through one public access portal.
Johnson County, the state's most populous, ran its own separate system for years, so check how the portal treats it if your case is from there.
How Kansas's courts are organized
The Kansas judicial branch has two appellate courts and one trial court, plus municipal courts run by cities.
Kansas Supreme Court
Seven justices hear direct appeals in the most serious criminal cases, review Court of Appeals decisions and supervise the state's courts and lawyers.
Kansas Court of Appeals
Hears most appeals from the district courts and some state agencies.
District courts
The trial courts of general jurisdiction, organized into 31 judicial districts. District judges and district magistrate judges hear civil, criminal, family, probate, juvenile, traffic and small claims cases.
Municipal courts
City courts that hear ordinance violations and many traffic cases. They keep their own records.
Searching Kansas court records online
The state's public access portal is the main online search for district court cases.
- Kansas District Court Public Access PortalSearch district court cases from courts on the statewide system. Basic searching is available to the public; some document access requires an account and fees.
- Kansas appellate case searchCase information and opinions for the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.
- Kansas Judicial BranchCourt directories, rules and self-help resources.
Getting records from the clerk's office
The clerk of the district court in each county keeps the official files. Clerks provide copies and certified copies for set fees and accept requests by mail or email. Public terminals at many courthouses let you search cases for free.
Deeds and other recorded documents are kept by the county register of deeds, not the court.
- Kansas court locationsFind the district court in each county and judicial district.
What is public, and what is not
Kansas Supreme Court rules govern access to court records. Most records are public, but juvenile, adoption, child in need of care, mental health and many care and treatment records are confidential, along with personal identifiers.
Kansas allows expungement of many arrests, diversions and convictions after a waiting period that depends on the offense. Expunged records are removed from public view but remain available to some agencies and employers listed in the statute.
- Kansas Legal Services: ExpungementInformation about expungement and other civil legal topics.
Older and archived records
Closed district court files are kept under the Supreme Court's retention schedule. Many historical county court records, including territorial records, are held by the Kansas Historical Society, which serves as the state archives.
- Kansas Historical Society: State ArchivesHistorical state and county records, including court files.
Criminal history and background records
A court file tells you what happened in one case in one court. A criminal history record (often called a rap sheet) pulls together arrests, charges and outcomes reported from across the state, so it is a different product kept by a different agency.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation keeps the state's criminal history records. Kansas conviction records are open, and anyone can request a name-based record check for a fee.
- KBI criminal history record checksOnline name-based Kansas criminal history search.
- KBI offender registryPublic search of registered sex, violent and drug offenders.
- KASPERThe Kansas Department of Corrections' public search of people in custody or under supervision.
Federal court records in Kansas
Federal cases, including federal crimes, bankruptcies, and lawsuits over federal law or between citizens of different states, are not filed in Kansas's state courts. Kansas is a single federal judicial district, and each has its own clerk's office:
Federal case files are searched through PACER, the federal judiciary's records system. PACER charges a small fee per page, but you pay nothing if your charges stay under the quarterly fee-waiver threshold, court opinions are free, and every federal courthouse has public terminals you can use at no cost. Many PACER documents have also been copied into the free RECAP Archive on CourtListener. Appeals from Kansas's federal courts go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Tips for a faster search
- Kansas case numbers include the year, a case type such as CR (criminal), CV (civil) or DM (domestic), and a sequence number.
- If you know the county, a call to the district court clerk is often the fastest route to a document.
- Municipal court cases, including many DUIs, are not in the district court system.
- Have the full names of the parties, the county and a rough date range ready. A case number is the fastest way in if you have one.
- Online indexes are not the official record. If a decision depends on it, get a copy (or a certified copy) from the clerk's office that holds the file.
Legal help and law libraries
Clerks and law librarians can explain how to find a record, but they cannot give legal advice. These organizations can point you in the right direction:
- Kansas Supreme Court Law LibraryThe state's public law library in Topeka.
- Kansas Legal ServicesFree civil legal help for eligible Kansans.
This guide is general information about public records, not legal advice. Court websites, fees and rules change, so confirm details with the court before you rely on them. Civics-Online.org is not affiliated with any court or government agency.